Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Shares Bought by Fidelis Capital Partners LLC

Fidelis Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 84.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,904 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 874 shares during the quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $891,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NOC. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Northrop Grumman by 70,532.5% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 637,105 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $347,611,000 after acquiring an additional 636,203 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter valued at about $283,114,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Northrop Grumman by 74.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,174,556 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $517,028,000 after acquiring an additional 502,060 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Northrop Grumman by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,488,412 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,975,754,000 after acquiring an additional 410,736 shares in the last quarter. Finally, London Co. of Virginia acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the third quarter worth about $165,786,000. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman

In other news, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 210 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $454.68, for a total transaction of $95,482.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,127 shares in the company, valued at $1,421,784.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 711 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.22, for a total transaction of $322,239.42. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 2,024 shares in the company, valued at $917,317.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 210 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $454.68, for a total value of $95,482.80. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,127 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,421,784.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 3,149 shares of company stock worth $1,421,147. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on NOC. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $505.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 26th. TheStreet downgraded Northrop Grumman from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $560.00 to $540.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 26th. StockNews.com downgraded Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $450.00 price objective (down from $515.00) on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Friday, January 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $494.33.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 0.9 %

NOC stock traded up $3.98 during trading on Friday, hitting $456.48. 97,471 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 976,259. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $459.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $464.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.55, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.35. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 52-week low of $414.56 and a 52-week high of $496.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.80 by $0.47. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 23.07% and a net margin of 5.23%. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $7.50 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.67 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a $1.87 dividend. This represents a $7.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.49%.

Northrop Grumman Company Profile

Northrop Grumman Corporation operates as an aerospace and defense technology company in the United States, Asia/Pacific, Europe, and internationally. The company's Aeronautics Systems segment designs, develops, manufactures, integrates, and sustains aircraft systems. This segment also offers unmanned autonomous aircraft systems, including high-altitude long-endurance strategic ISR systems and vertical take-off and landing tactical ISR systems; and strategic long-range strike aircraft, tactical fighter and air dominance aircraft, and airborne battle management and command and control systems.